Additional notes

A few things I’ve learned over the years while baking Nellie’s stotties.

Fresh yeast is better, but I get good results with dried which you can use in just the same way. A friendly local baker (or even in supermarkets where they really make the bread rather than just bake pre-made stuff) will typically give you a bit of their fresh yeast.

Your rolled out uncooked stotties will rise a bit more if you cover them on the baking trays with the tea towel and return them to the warm place for a little while longer.

The location of the shelf in the oven makes a big difference to the way the stotties come out; from relatively flat and crispier, to fatter and more bread-like. Personally I like to bake them on a low shelf.

Adding grated cheese and onion has fantastic results. Nellie used to grate onion by hand but I use a blender to save my eyes and my knuckles.

Eat them fresh; they’re never the same the following day. (Just goes to show the preservatives that must go into store-bought bread.) The rare occasion any survive to the following day I split and toast them like muffins.

Pass it on: bake with your kids or your grandkids. The only reason I can share this today is because of the times Nellie indulged me when she was so busy every Sunday. My son started out pricking the unbaked stotties with a fork, progressed onto rolling out the dough, and these days is elbow deep in the mixing and kneading process. Maybe one day he’ll be passing it on to future generations of our family.